The Large Hadron Collider Was Just Derailed by a Weasel

The most powerful particle collider in the world has been shut down—by a weasel. According to internal documents posted online today, "electrical perturbation" stopped all of the Large Hadron Collider's operations when the animal chewed through a 66-kilovolt electrical transformer.

"I can confirm that we had some issues overnight with electrical trouble," CERN spokesperson Arnaud Marsollier told New Scientist. "We suspect it might be due to a small animal."

Sadly, the animal's remains were found at the scene, but at least the LHC will live to see another day. It will take a few days to get everything back up and running, but none of the equipment is damaged and the problem is easily fixed.

According to scientific community legend, this isn't the first time wildlife has derailed this grand experiment. In 2009, reports spread that a bird caused a power outage at the LHC by dropping a baguette on a substation, but now the LHC claims that might be a myth.

"This was a story that was told, but we never knew exactly what happened," Marsollier clarified, but also said that it was far from impossible. "We're in the countryside, you have wild animals."